NiGHTS: Dreams of Another
by Nex the Slayer
Summary: When Sally's music is stolen, she loses her last Ideya, Hope, and ends up in the Realm of Nightmare. She is soon saved by NiGHTS and a young man, Timothy. When Tim himself is later kidnapped, NiGHTS convinces her to join forces in order to save him. But can she fight for someone else's dreams when she lacks the one trait that serves as the Nightmaren's weakness? Xtra long Ch.4 Up!
1. A Day in the Life

The incessant ringing of Sally's alarm roused her from her sleep. Mumbling incoherently, she slapped the clock lazily with her hand, not wanting to leave the warmth of her bed just yet. Only half awake, she watched the second hand on her analog clock spiral through the slits in her eyes.

She hadn't slept well. It seemed to be a recurring theme as of late. Nights filled with dreams she couldn't remember, waking her in the night and haunting her during the day. Sally slowly crawled out of bed, disabling the alarm instead of waiting for the snooze to wear off. It was a good hour before school started, but she wanted to leave as soon as possible. Her mother had had visitors over last night, and there was no guarantee they would be sober when they woke up.

Sally fixed herself in her mirror, binding her long black hair in a ponytail and slipping thin wire framed glass in front of her blue eyes. After quickly dressing and slipping a stack of Staff Paper into her book bag, Sally descended the stairs and made for the front door. On her way, she made note of the casualties.

_Vase, coffee table leg, stained carpet… _she thought to herself as she opened the door. _Aaaaand the Ficus. _A small Nissan was parked on the lawn outside, having apparently missed the driveway and hitting their only potted plant.

_Off to school, Mom… _she imagined in her head. Not wanting to wake her irritable mother and her house guests, Sally still found herself going through the mental thought process of a normal teenage girl living with a responsible parent. It wan't something she decided to do, she just… did. Sally guessed it stemmed from wanting to be normal, even if it was only a delusion.

As she walked down the sidewalk, Sally hummed to herself. Her tune. The same one she always sang, played, hummed, and whistled. It was her masterpiece. She'd made it herself during music class, and it had stuck with her. Gradually, the song got longer, with more parts, a longer theme, and several revisions, but it was still hers. A song all her own.

Her dream was to be a composer, to write music along with the greatest names in the business. Haunting melodies, exciting overtures, heart pounding movements… Sally wanted to write it all.

_Small steps_, she smiled to herself as she hummed. _It all starts with this tune, and the paper it's written on. Soon enough…_

Here and there, Sally spotted other students, easily identified by their humongous backpacks. These were the early-goers, the unpopular crowd who made the effort to arrive early for the peace and quiet. Most ended up in the Library, enjoying the solitude of a book or getting a head start on their studies. Sally, however, had her own idea of solitude.

As they approached the campus, instead of following the others on their way to the Library, Sally cut across the Teacher's parking lot, towards the music building. The front door, unlocked as always, gave way to a large choir room, with rows of chairs lining the ground and rows of amplifiers lining the ceiling.

In the center of the room sat a Steinway Grand Piano, who's care and maintenance had been closely monitored by the head of the music department since he'd arrived at the school nearly thirty seven years ago. The tones were so ingrained in the piano, a note would continue to sound lightly for a full minute after being muted.

Sally pulled the stack of Staff Paper from her bag, and set it on the piano. She was writing the part for the trumpets today. She could hear the music in her head. The problem was getting it onto paper. Sally established her melody, repeating it several times in her head before searching for the matching keys on the piano. As she found the right notes, she transposed and transcribed them on the Staff Paper.

Getting lost in her work was a normal occurrence for Sally, and since no one ever disturbed her, she never had to worry about interruptions. Today was different. The door of the music building opened, and the bitter sweet sound of girl talk reached Sally's ears. Three girls entered her line of sight, and she did her best to ignore them.

"Is that Sally?" one asked out loud. She was redheaded, and Sally mentally assigned the hair color as her identifier.

"Hi Sally," another greeted sarcastically, this one brunette. "It's great to see you."

"Likewise," Sally mumbled under her breath.

"Is this what you're working on for the music festival?" the blonde girl who seemed to be leader of the three spoke up. She stepped up to the piano from the side opposite Sally, grabbing a few sheets of her music. "This looks pretty beat up. And it smells." She scrunched her face and tossed the papers back to Sally.

"My mom spilled beer on it," Sally replied in a low voice.

"Well, don't sweat it," Mean Girl replied. "You're not going to win anyways. We've been working on our trio all summer. Over seven months of planning for this competition. I bet you threw that together over the weekend, right?"

Sally muttered so low she couldn't even hear herself.

"Uh… what was that?" the Mean Girl asked her to repeat.

"Three years," Sally spoke a little louder. "Since freshman year, I've been working on this."

Sally's statement caught the girls off guard, obviously, as they had nothing to say for a good ten seconds following. She let herself smile a bit, very pleased with their reaction.

"Well, we'll see, I guess," The leader stated before turning to leave. The sound of their heels on the ground faded as they retreated to the door, then down the hall. Satisfied with her work for the day, Sally packed up her music and closed the piano, taking care to wipe off her fingerprints, in respect.

Sighing audibly, Sally exited the music building and proceeded to her first class. _Just another day..._


	2. The Missing Melody

The day proceeded normally for Sally. Nothing strange or out of the ordinary. She was a ghost at her high school, extremely quiet and small; not many people noticed her entering and exiting a room, and when they finally did notice her, she would catch most by surprise. Sally navigated the hallways of her school with expert precision, sifting through an endless mass of hormones, pheromones, and teenage angst without so much as making physical contact with another person.

Until she reached music class, that is. Sally enjoyed learning about music, and in her rush to enter the classroom, she opened the door rather quickly… right into the face of the Mean Girl. The force of the blow was enough to knock the girl to the ground, and she clutched at her own forehead, howling.

"You're _so_ dead!" the Mean Girl shouted, jumping to her feet and advancing towards Sally. Sally, still stunned at the fact that she'd hurt someone, stared stupidly at the blonde girl's hate covered face.

Somewhere in the time it took for the Mean Girl to reach Sally, the current state of events registered in her mind. She retreated back into the hallway, a little confused and unsure of how to handle the situation.

Thankfully, she didn't have to. The Mean girl's two friends stepped in, one pulling Sally backwards by her backpack, away from the Mean Girl, the other pulling the Mean Girl back into the classroom.

"Let me go!" the Mean Girl screamed, eager to inflict some form of pain on Sally. The redheaded friend didn't let up, yanking the Mean Girl by her underarms into the classroom. The brunette who helped Sally let go after a few moments, apparently satisfied that she was out of any immediate danger.

"Sorry about Jamie," she sighed. "She can be like that sometimes… it was obviously an accident."

Sally opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Her heart was frozen, and it was affecting her vocal chords. She wanted to say something, anything; but no words would come out. She was still scared, and her brain hadn't caught up yet.

"You should be okay after she calms down some," the Redhead continued. "Just… don't talk to her for awhile. She'll start ignoring you again in no time."

_Say something! _Sally's mouth opened and closed several times. After about fifteen seconds, the Redhead continued.

"Are you okay?" the Redhead smiled worriedly. "People aren't gonna talk to you if you keep acting weird." she turned to leave, opening the front door to the Music room.

"Thank you!" Sally blurted out loudly. Not used to being loud, talking to people, or having attention on her made Sally instantly cover her own mouth and blush, embarrassed.

The Redhead paused at the door, looking back with a smile. "You're welcome," she replied before entering the classroom.

Relief washed over Sally. She'd had a normal interaction with someone, something that never happened normally. Even if she was a friend of the Mean Girl, Sally felt happy about her two word conversation with another human being.

Music class was nearing it's end, and Sally returned to the room after a quick trip to the bathroom. The teacher, Mr. Simon, was in the middle of speaking.

"…competition deadline is today. The assignment was to write a musical piece, using whatever traditional instruments you could include, and present it to a panel of judges. The musical piece that is deemed the best will be performed by a live orchestra, and the top three will be submitted for the Tangerine Melody Scholarship, which guarantees full college tuition for four years to the college of your choice, which will hopefully be used for a music degree."

Sally slipped into her seat. Today was the day. She'd finished her music score last period, and now they would all turn them in. Heart rising in her chest from excitement, Sally opened her bag to grab her music. Only… it wasn't there.

"All right. Everyone bring your music up. It can be in any format, as long as the judges can interpret it in some way." Students began to form a line, most holding CD-ROMs, others with flash drives, hard drives, video tapes… one even had a Cassette tape.

Checking her bag again, sure that there was some mistake, Sally began to feel a knot growing in her chest. She rifled through her bag once, twice, and a third time. The music wasn't there! The line of students began to dwindle, and Sally could feel her frustration rising.

"Is that all of them?" Mr. Simon asked. "Sally, didn't you have one? I've seen you working on it."

"It's gone," Sally whimpered, hints of panic beginning to show. "It's gone!"

"Sally, is everything all right?" Mr. Simon approached her, genuinely concerned. Sally's hands had started shaking, and everyone in the class was looking at her now.

"My music is gone!" she found her voice, speaking loudly and clearly. The room went dead quiet as she started to cry. Tears ran down her cheeks, her eyes were wide open with shock, and her body shivered as if she was freezing cold.

"Sally, calm down," Mr. Simon spoke quietly, attempting to calm her. "Did you check your bag again? Maybe you missed it."

"I didn't miss it." she nearly screamed.

"Did you have another copy?" he continued. "A rough draft? A backup?"

"It was handwritten…" Sally moaned softly. "There _is _no backup…" through her tears, Sally fought to think. When could someone have taken her music? "When I went to the bathroom! Someone must've taken it!" She whipped her head around, staring accusingly at the Mean Girl. The Mean Girl was slumped in her chair, smiling smugly and lift ing her hands in a show of innocence.

"No one went near your bag, Sally," Mr. Simon confirmed. "I was here the whole time. I kept my eyes open. I'm sorry to say this Sally, but you may have just misplaced it."

Sally could feel her soul being crushed under the weight of the situation. That music was her pride and joy! She'd worked on it consistently for _three_ years! Her waking moments, her late night oil burnings, and over half of every day went into perfecting that music! It had become her life, and Mr. Simon had just suggested that she might have _misplaced_ it?

Unable to take the stares, the situation, or the hopelessness anymore, Sally stood to her feet, grabbed her book bag, and fled the room


	3. Nightmares

_The darkess as all around her, smothering her. Sally had lost track of time… as far as she knew, she'd always been here. It was cold, and pitch black, but what unsettled her most was the silence. There was no sound; she couldn't even hear herself breathing._

"Where am I?" _she mouthed, since she couldn't hear herself speaking. The blood in her veins went icy when she recieved an unexpected reply._

"You are in Nightmare," _a deep and disembodied voice resounded. _"The resting place of broken dreams, endless sorrow, and lost souls."

_Sally tensed as she felt a cold presence surround her. Walls closed in around her, tightening and squeezing the air from her lungs. She could feel herself being yanked up, higher and higher, until she broke the plane of darkness that had obscured her vision. When she saw her surroundings clealry for the first time, Sally immediately wished she hadn't._

_The world was covered in shades of black and grey. The surface she had risen from was permeated by a tangible darkness that flowed like water. Above, storm clouds broiled like boiling water, and a never ending series of lightning flashes riddled the horizon. The walls that she'd felt closing in around her was more than that; it was an enormous hand with no arm, or any other attachment Sally could see._

_Her travel upward stopped abruptly just before the thunderheads in the sky. As if on cue, shots of linked chains descended from the clouds and wrapped themselves around Sally's arms and legs. Too late, Sally struggled, only to find the chains taut and securely fastened to each other. The Hand continued to rise into the clouds, where Sally lost track of it._

"Are you afraid?" _the disembodied voice spoke again._

_Sally was terrified. She was confused, disoriented, and impossible things were happening all around her. The chains that held her in place streached her chest to the point where she couldn't take normal breaths. Not to mention that she hated heights._

_Unable to force her mouth to form words, Sally merely nodded in response to the Voice's question. A deep and malicious laugh reverberated from inside the storm clouds. The lightning infested clouds began to roll back and away, slowly at first, then rapidly. As they receded, Sally could see that more hands like the one that had picked her up were gripping the edges of the clouds, as if they were solid, and pulling them back._

"Good. You have every right to be," _the Voice continued. Behind the clouds was an immense figure, garbed in a dark cloak. Sally could feel her terror increse tenfold as the being moved in closer to her, descending from the clouds._

"Please…" _Sally managed to speak through her frozen shut jaw. _"I want to go home… please, just let me go…"

"I can't do that, child," _the Voice grew louder as the figure drew closer. _"You have something in your possesion that belongs to me."

"I don't have anything!" _Sally cried. Tears began to roll down her face as her fear intensified. _"I don't belong here, I just want to go home!"

"But you _are_ home, Sally," _the voice changed tone and pitch, and Sally's face contorted in horror as she recognized the voice of her own mother. The large being bent forward, bringing it's larger-than-life metalic mask face to face with Sally's own. _"Didn't anyone tell you, honey? This isn't just any old nightmare… it's _yours_!"

_Four of the six hands that belonged to the malevolent being gripped the four chains extending from Sally's limbs, while a fifth dove straight for her chest. She screamed in pain as she felt the fingers make contact, burrowing into her. It didn't feel like the Hand was clawing at her body; it was burrowing much deeper than that. Sally looked down in disbelief as a pulsing yellow light began emanating from her chest._

_The pain ony heightened as the yellow light began to take form outside of her body. Sally felt as though she'd just lost something extremely important. The pain she was feeling wasn't physical, despite the fact that a gigantic hand was half buried in her chest cavity. It felt like her reason for living was gone. She hadn't felt this sort of pain since…_

"Nostalgic, isn't it?" _the voice had gone back to it's normal disembodied tone. It's Hand drew back from Sally's chest, holding a translucent, glowing sphere. _"The first time you felt like this, you wanted to roll over and die, didn't you? I always wondered why you didn't."

_Emotionally and physically exhausted beyond belief, Sally was unable to anwer the jest, or even halfway comprehend it. Sally felt as though an sack of wieghts had been placed on her. Thinking, struggling, breathing… everything seemed to take an incredible amount of effort, and she had to force herself to keep from falling unconcious._

"This was your last Ideya," _the voice continued, either unaware or unconcerned with Sally's current non-coherent state._ "Do you know what happens to people who lose all their Ideya? They become shades, shells of their former selves. Useless."

_Useless. The word was familiar to Sally, and it nudged her mind, even in it's exhauseted state. Her mouth began to form words of it's own accord, her voice too low to heard._

"I have no use for something that's useless," _the giant turned it's back on Sally, it's hands closing the clouds like a veil behind him. _"Reala!"

_A speck appeared in the corner of Sally's vision, and flew toward her at an impressive speed. It pulled to a stop next to her, and Sally shifted her head to get a better view. A human-like, grey skinned jester stood on the air beside her, and kneeled in front of the closing clouds._

"As you wish, Lord Wizeman," _Reala's voice was low and slick, like she would imagine a snake's voice to sound. Without waiting for any further response, Reala straightened and floated in front of Sally, eyes sharp and observant. With a quick wave of his hand, the shackles holding her in place unclasped and retreated into the clouds. The darkly dressed Jester scooped her up in his arms and flew off towards the horizon._


	4. Paraloop

(Recommended listening: "The Expendables" from The Expendables Original Soundtrack by Brian Tyler. I'll be adding time markers to the story to mark what pieces of music belong to which section of the story.)

_The landscape flew by in a blur as Reala carried Sally further and further away from her encounter with Wizeman. She could feel herself calming down, becoming more aware of herself. Still disturbed thy he world around her, and genuinely curious about the creature carrying her, Sally attempted to speak._

"Who are you?" _Sally inquired. Despite his pale, almost purple skin, red and black costume, and odd body proportions, the Jester that carried her was extremely humanlike. This fact most likely fooled her into a sense of security more than anything else._

"I will not waste my breath on someone who won't be alive much longer," _he replied flatly. Sally felt her heart jump straight into her throat as the menace in Reala's voice was clearly conveyed. The pair flew over the beginnings of a craggy mountain._

"You're going to…?" _Sally's voice caught, and her sentence trailed off. The fear that had been burrowing deep inside her began to return. She was going to die. This person… Reala, was going to kill her. Sally forced herself to discard the unrealism of her situation and accept the fact that her own life was now hanging in the balance._

"No, I won't kill you," _Reala responded. Sally felt her heart lighten a little. Then, he continued. _"Your ridiculous human concept of 'Gravity' will kill you." _Reala cleared the mountain range to reveal a wide, circular basin filled with the Dark Fog that covered everything else. He rose higher into the sky, taking Sally with him, hundreds of feet above._

_(0:00)_

"I will never understand why such great power was given to such pathetic beings," _Reala shifted Sally's body in his hands, grabbing her neck and holding her outward at arm's length. Sally struggled to breath and wrapped her hands around Reala's fingers, trying to lessen the weight her own body on her jaw. _"The power to create, destroy, imagine and bring to life whatever you wish. It is undeserving of unappreciative apes who squander it their entire lives. There's a word for things like that."

_Pain kept Sally conscious, and as scared as she was, she continued to focus on Reala's words. Power? Her? She couldn't comprehend what he was talking about. She did, however, understand his next word._

"Useless. You are, all of you, useless." _Reala furrowed his brow and tightened his grip. Sally, her vision beginning to fade, responded automatically. To Reala, though, the only thing that could be heard were the oxygen starved sputterings of a human._

"What was that?" _he asked._

"I'm… not… useless…" _she spoke through her clenched teeth._

_Reala chuckled, grinning wide from ear to ear. _"Not useless? How adamant of you." _Reala looked down at the ground below. _"I don't suppose you have a valid argument to back that up, do you?"

"I'm… _not… _useless…" _Sally repeated._

_Eyes still fixed on the scenery below, Reala's smile vanished, and his voice dropped to just above a whisper. _"Well… what do you know? You may actually _be_ useful."

_His gaze shifted to Sally and his smile returned, this time accompanied by a maniacal laugh. With a slight push, Reala released his grip on her. She gave a quick shriek, and fell, tumbling, to the surface. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, as if she was watching a movie and not actually experiencing it for herself. Her body flipped, her face now facing the fog, which was approaching her at a startling speed. The wind whipped at her face, and she instinctively threw her arms in front of her head._

* * *

_(0:47)_

_Soon after entering the fog, Sally felt arms embrace her from her back, wrapping around her waist and underneath her arms. They pulled gently, changing the direction of her fall bit by bit. In a flash, Sally was scooped up just as the ground appeared, carried forward, and set on the ground._

_Sally slowly turned around. Another Jester, very similar in appearance to Reala, stood before her. This one was a little different, though. He wore purple instead of red and black, and his countenance was one of warmth, with a natural glow. On his chest, a red jewel shone brightly._

"Who…?"

_The purple clown put a finger to her mouth the moment it opened. He shook his head and pointed upwards. It was best for them to be quiet. Sally nodded that she understood, not sure if her heart would ever stop beating at ten thousand beats a minute. After a few moments of waiting, the Jester looked up and around, as if he could see straight through the fog._

"I guess being quiet didn't help much," _he said aloud. Although Sally couldn't say with certainty before, now that she'd heard his voice, she could definitely say the Jester was male due to his deep voice. _"Looks like we've been found out."

"By Reala, you mean?" _Sally inquired. He nodded once, confirming._ _He motioned to Sally, and scooped her back up, arms under her legs and back. For the first time since entering this strange realm, Sally felt safe. Truly safe. The warmth from her costumed savior enveloped her, and relaxed her._

"Put your arms around my neck," _he directed, and Sally complied. _"Things may get a little crazy from here on out. Whatever happens, don't let go of me, okay?" _Sally nodded several times. She got the picture, and as frightened as she was, she wouldn't have let go even if he told her to._

_They lifted off from the ground together, and sailed upwards through the smog. Sally was focused on his face as they ascended. It was frozen in place, as if he was concentrating on something. She gained the distinct feeling that something was wrong._

* * *

_(1:15)_

_Just as anticipated, an unfriendly welcoming party awaited them on the other side of the smoke. Reala and a group of twenty or so twisted looking animals floated in the air in a circle around them. The monsters came in all sizes and shapes, and looked like mismatched pieces of real animals._

"Well, well…" _Reala spoke. _"Come, now, NiGHTS… did you really think you could _sneak_ into Nightmare without being discovered? That's awfully naive, even for you."

_NiGHTS remained silent, and Sally couldn't help but look several times between the two. They looked identical, save for their color schemes and the red jewel on NiGHTS' chest. She wondered if they were related, since they obviously knew each other._

"That human you're holding has outlived her usefulness," _Reala continued. _"Lord Wizeman is getting stronger by the day. It won't be long before he obtains the pinnacle of his achievements, and not even the Ideya of Courage will be able to stop him! If you kill her now, I will personally intervene with Wizeman on your behalf. See reason… this isn't a fight you can win."

_NiGHTS lowered one arm and held Sally around her waist, pulling her close to him. With his other free hand, he grabbed his lower eyelid and stuck out his tongue in a ridiculous looking fashion._

"Thhhhhhhhhhbt!"

_Reala's face contorted into one of pure hate, and he signaled to his followers. _"Kill them both!" _The monsters leapt forward in an instant, gnashing their teeth and letting out howls and cries._

_Sally felt her right hand being lifted into NiGHTS' left hand, and the right hand around her waist tightened it's grip. Other than that, NiGHTS hadn't moved yet. The monsters were getting closer, and Sally began looking around, panicking._

"Hey," _NiGHTS grabbed her attention with his soft, unworried voice. Sally found herself gazing into his large eyes. Everything else seemed to fade away, the yells from the others dimmed, and she focused on only NiGHTS. _"Trust me."

_(1:30)_

_With that, NiGHTS took a step to his left in mid-air, pulling Sally with him. Two of the closer monsters, faster than the rest, collided with each other in the spot they had been waiting a moment before. Knocked silly, the pair fell into the fog beneath them._

"One, two, three… one, two, three…" _NiGHTS muttered under his breath. They weren't moving anymore, but he was still stepping in place, counting to himself. Sally soon found herself counting with him. Her pace matched his, and she began stepping in place with him as well, following his movements forward and back._

_NiGHTS raised Sally's hand, and pushed her gently back with his waist-hand. She felt his fingers guiding her hand, leading her into a twirl. She'd become so absorbed in the movement, she almost didn't even notice the Pterodactyl-bird-horse monster that flew between the gap of herself and NiGHTS._

"We're… dancing!" _Sally began laughing. The ludicrous idea of dancing while being attacked by horrendous monsters tickled her to no end, and she continued to laugh even as they continued to dance._

"Salsa, to be exact," _NiGHTS muttered again, a smile plastered on his face. _"One, two, three, and spin!" _he flung Sally with his left hand, spinning her counter-clockwise as he spun clockwise. They both made one full rotation before NiGHTS reached out with his right hand and grabbed Sally's left, yanking her towards him, wrapping her so they faced the same direction, and grabbing her right hand with his left again._

_Their opposite hands still attached, NiGHTS flung Sally around, unwrapping her and extending her legs outward, almost perpendicular with the ground. Monster after monster fell under Sally's shoes as she kicked them in the face during her twirl. NiGHTS stopped the spinning and brought her closer to him, except he let go of her hands and slid between and under her legs. His foot shot out from the slide, beaning another monster in the stomach while reaching backwards and grabbing Sally's hands again. With a quick turn, the two went from facing opposite directions to facing each other again._

_Time flew by without Sally even noticing it, and before she realized it, every monster that had had them surrounded was gone._

"You did great," _NiGHTS congratulated Sally. She smiled wide and covered her face with her hands, embarrassed._

"I've never danced before,"_ Sally admitted, blushing._ "That was the most fun I've had in my entire life!"

"I bet it's the first time you've flown on your own, too," _NiGHTS added._

"I didn't do that on my own," _Sally furrowed her brows. _"You were with me the whole time!"

"I mean, right _now_," _NiGHTS corrected himself._ "You're floating. On your own. Didn't you notice?"

"Eh?" _Sally looked down. She was dangling hundreds of feet in the air. NiGHTS wasn't holding her, and her hands were still covering her face. Her fear of heights suddenly came over her and her pulse spiked. Instantly, Sally began to plummet. She didn't get far, though, as NiGHTS swiped her out of the air._

"I guess not," _NiGHTS muttered. He opened his mouth to say more when his expression darkened. He swiftly dodged right as Reala flew by, his spinning attack missing by a hair._

_(2:05)_

"You may be able to defeat two-bit level five Nightmaren, but you can't beat _me_ while carrying dead weight, NiGHTS!" _Reala recovered from his miss and redirected coming in close with a punch._ "Good luck Dualyzing with human who has no Courage!"

_One hand still around Sally, NiGHTS grabbed Reala's fist with his left hand, solidly blocking the attack. His grip tightened, and Reala's face changed from one of hate to one of confusion. NiGHTS swung in midair, delivering a spinning back kick directly to his stomach. Clutching his stomach and gasping for air, Reala realized the truth._

"You… you've already Dualized? That's not possible!" _Reala was in denial._ "I received no reports of any new Visitors looking for their Ideya!"

"I guess that's because I never lost mine," _NiGHTS spoke directly to Reala for the first time._ _NiGHTS' voice must've caught Reala by surprise, because his eyes opened wide and his mouth dropped._

"Heh," _Reala recovered._ "Dualized or not, you can't escape from this place." _As he spoke, small dots appeared on the tops of the craggy mountain peaks surrounding the basin. The dots came closer, and more continued to fill in the space they'd left behind. Sally's stomach churned when she realized that they were all Nightmaren. _"You're in Nightmare, home of the Nightmaren! There's no way there'd only be a handful of us!"

* * *

_Hundreds of Nightmaren poured over the lips of the basin, each one scrambling towards the center where NiGHTS and Sally hovered. NiGHTS expertly flipped Sally over his head, wrapping her arms around his neck again._

"I don't think I need to tell you this time, right?" _he asked._

"No," _Sally responded, sure of herself. She gripped tightly, securing herself to NiGHTS' back._ "I trust you."

_NiGHTS smiled briefly, then rocketed off towards one end of the basin. In front of them, a wall of Nightmaren blocked the path to the mountain's base. The fast movers reached them in a flash, and NiGHTS reacted immediately. He planted his hands on a sheep-dog's head and flipped, weaving left and right around an octopus-egg-fish and a horned-shark-puppet. NiGHTS' speed magnified as he began spinning rapidly, and Sally had to practically crush his neck just to stay attached. He barreled head first into the crowd, sending Nightmarens flying in every direction._

_(2:36)_

_And just like that, they were through. In front of them loomed a mountain pass, which seemed to Sally like a perfect escape route. Instead of taking the pass, though, NiGHTS made a sharp turn right, skittering along the edges of the mountain. The horde of Nightmarens followed suit, either running along the edge or cutting corners and taking the shortest path between themselves and NiGHTS._

_He continued zooming along the outside rim of the basin, spinning his way through anything that got in their way. If a monster happened to catch up, a swift kick from NiGHTS sent him tumbling back to his pack, or down into the basin altogether. Sally, dizzy from the flight and tears ripping from her eyes from the sheer speed, shut them tightly and prayed for NiGHTS' success, whatever he was doing._

* * *

_Up above, Reala observed the scene below with growing disdain. NiGHTS had already circled half the basin, and his intent suddenly became clear to him. He shouted at the top of his lungs in a booming voice for all the Nightmarens to hear._

"You idiots! Stop following them, or you'll all be destroyed! Get out of there!" _Reala's words fell on deaf ears as the others, dead set on catching their prey, continued to give chase. Realizing he now only had enough time to save himself, Reala took off, flying back towards the entrance to the basin._

* * *

_(3:08)_

_From NiGHTS back, Sally opened her eyes after hearing a distant yelling that sounded like Reala. In front of them, she noticed a faint sparkling light, and recognized the area where NiGHTS had first turned to traverse the basin. NiGHTS lifted his right hand and boosted again, reaching for the end of the sparkling trail in the sky._

"_Paraloop_!"

* * *

_Reala just barely managed to clear the lip of the basin when the entire area inside NiGHTS' loop exploded in a brilliantly bright purple light. The light explosion traveled straight up into the sky, ripping a hole in the cloud cover. Every Nightmaren caught in the blast was instantly disintegrated, leaving only a dozen or so monsters to collect themselves._

_The sun burst through the opening in the clouds, illuminating the basin and dissolving the smog. Underneath the thick smog was a field of bright and colorful flowers. Tulips, carnations, violets, roses, sunflowers, and some the likes of which have never been seen before._

_Just as suddenly as the phenomenon started, it ended. The clouds rolled back into place, the smog returned, and the flowers wilted and sank back into the ground. Reala clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. It was going to painful explaining this to Lord Wizeman..._


	5. Nightopia

_NiGHTS slowed down, and Sally's spent arms unwrapped themselves from around his neck as she let herself slide down to the ground. Her forearms ached, having been yanked and jerked to and fro thanks to NiGHTS' incredible escape. She was surprised to find that her glasses were still in place, given how much spinning they'd done._

_The purple jester pulled ahead a little farther, still hovering a foot or so above the ground. His eyes were firmly fixed on the area immediately behind them, scanning for any sign of pursuit from their enemies._

_Sally took the opportunity to check herself. Two arms, two legs, ten fingers… the outfit she was wearing was the same that she had worn to school that day. She ran her mental clock back, trying to remember what happened between being at school and arriving here._

_Her heart drooped as she recalled the events in the Music Room at her school, and her missing score. Sally pushed the thought away. She didn't want to dwell, and that wasn't what she was looking for. The last thing she remembered was arriving home early, skipping the rest of her school day, and lying on her bed, crying her eyes out. And feeling tired… very, very tired._

"Am I…" _Sally pinched herself. _"…dreaming?" _She immediately dismissed the thought. Everything here felt one hundred percent real, and she was thinking and speaking normally, as far as she could tell._

"Score one for the sleepy head!" _NiGHTS spoke up suddenly, his attention now completely focused on Sally. _"I didn't know I was asleep the first time until NiGHTS told me. Now _that's _embarrassing."

"NiGHTS?" _Sally furrowed her brow in confusion. _"I thought _you_ were NiGHTS."

"Well… yes and no," _the purple jester answered._ "Let's get out of here first, then I'll explain everything. It doesn't look like anyone's following us. The reason I didn't do this from the beginning is because I didn't want anything following us back." _NiGHTS turned away from Sally, and began tracing his hand through the air, starting at the ground and looping in an arc._

"Back? Back to where?" _Sally inquired._

"Nightopia," _NiGHTS replied as he flashed a smile over his shoulder. The arc he traced with his hand filled in and began to shine with a white light, starkly contrast with the dreary environment around them. After a few moments, the light faded out, revealing a large, ornate wooden door in it's place. With a gentle push from NiGHTS, the door opened._

"Whoa…" _Sally pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and stood in awe at the sight._

_Through the door was an entirely different world, full of life and color. It let out to a hillside covered in grass, beyond which gigantic floating mountains reached high into the sky. Between them and the ground, no less than thirty waterfalls crashed up, defying gravity by falling to the mountains above._

_Beneath that, a crystal clear lake, serene and calm, sat undisturbed. Even with the wind blowing and water falling up from it, not a single ripple ran across the surface, giving it a glasslike was a moon and no sun, yet everything shone like broad daylight. Schools of fishes played tag in the waterfalls, and the lake's banks were thick with young, strong fruit trees of all sorts._

_Mesmerized by the beauty, Sally barely noticed her legs carrying her forward, across the plane of the Dream Door, and into Nightopia._

* * *

Sally was instantly aware of the exact moment she left the realm of Nightmare. It was almost as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She took in a huge breath of clean air, and let it fill her lungs to the max before sighing deeply, relaxing her muscles. She felt like running, laughing, sleeping, and jumping all at the same time. The place was invigorating, as if the air itself were pulsing with energy.

Aware of a presence behind her, Sally turned find NiGHTS floating a few feet behind her, observing her while swaying left and right, smiling to himself. The door to Nightmare had long since vanished, a forgotten bad dream in this new wonderland.

"This is Nightopia?" Sally asked. "Its… its unbelievable! Beautiful! Amazing!"

"Why, thank you," NiGHTS bowed. "This is my favorite spot so far… and its easy to get to because its mine."

Sally couldn't follow that last sentence. She decided to ignore it.

"So far? How big is Nightopia?"

"As big as the number of dreams in the real world." he replied simply. "Nightopia is a utopia within the dream world, and is different for every person who dreams. The landscape is always changing, each piece of scenery more breathtaking than the last. Nightopia is almost alive, in its own way."

"And this…" Sally motioned at the world, finally understanding. "This is your dream? Your Nightopia?"

NiGHTS nodded, hands folded behind his back as he continued to sway on the air. He seemed content to let Sally settle and figure things out, and ask as many questions as she wanted, but at the same time seemed restless, and unable (or unwilling) to stay in one place. His feet still hadn't touched the ground, and now he was floating in circles around Sally.

"So, what is Nightmare?"

"Nightmare and Nightopia are two sides of the same coin. When someone loses their ability to dream, a Nightmare appears to fill the void. Wizeman takes advantage of that, and invades the dreams of humans."

"And Wizeman is a bad guy, right?" Sally recalled the feeling of sheer terror she'd had in his presence. Whatever Wizeman was, he was evil, without a doubt.

"The worst kind," NiGHTS confirmed.

"And Reala's a bad guy too, then?"

NiGHTS fell silent, and stopped floating around lackadaisically. His expression went stoic, and one hand reached toward the jewel on his chest.

"That's something you'll need to ask NiGHTS, when the time is right."

"I thought _you _were NiGHTS," Sally repeated. "Am I missing something?"

"Yeah," NiGHTS laughed. "You are, but it's not your fault. Here…" The jewel on NiGHTS' chest began to glow a brilliant red, and his body began fading; not disappearing, but becoming fuzzy, and out of focus. In the next instant, a dark mass ejected itself from inside NiGHTS, falling forward onto the ground. Laying in front of Sally was a young man, about her age, with bleach blond hair and pale blue eyes. He had a wiry build, almost too thin, and had pale blue eyes.

Behind him, NiGHTS darted left and right in the air, as if testing its ability to fly.

"Oh, that's much better!" NiGHTS spoke. Sally was caught by surprise at its sudden voice change. Instead of the low, obviously male voice from before, NiGHTS' voice had risen several octaves, and its tone and intonation had changed completely. "I always feel so much heavier when we're dualized! Hey, lose some weight, fatty!"

"Now, now, NiGHTS…" a new, airy voice sounded from behind Sally. "You mustn't be rude. I'm sure young Timothy here is about as thin as he could possibly be without hurting himself." Sally turned just in time to see a rather large owl plop onto the hillside, bouncing on his feet once or twice before coming to rest. "Besides, you wouldn't want to give our new Visitor here the wrong impression of him, right?"

NiGHTS hadn't heard a word the owl said. The attention deficit jester was already more than thirty yards away, chasing a passing butterfly. One of the owl's eyebrows visibly twitched, then he sighed, giving up on lecturing the drifter.

So many things were happening around her, Sally wasn't sure which disturbed her more: the fact that a person had just come out of NiGHTS' body, the sudden one eighty on NiGHTS' personality, or the oversized talking owl.

"Ouch," the young man on the ground, Timothy, spoke up. He was rubbing his head and sitting cross legged on the ground, dressed in jeans and a light jacket. "I guess that wasn't exactly a graceful separation, huh?"

"Wait," Sally realized. "You were NiGHTS! Your voice is the same!"

"Yup!" NiGHTS had somehow found it's way back to their group, and was sticking its chest out with pride. "I can dualize with Visitors! It lets you do all sorts of stuff, like flying! Hey, do you like flying?" NiGHTS leaned in close to Sally, inquiring rather forcefully, making Sally take a few steps back.

"NiGHTS, don't be too pushy," the owl warned. "You know how you can get sometimes. None of us here have even properly introduced ourselves, and I'm sure she has plenty of questions. You should-"

The owl stopped talking as he realized NiGHTS was gone again, this time sniffing a patch of fresh flowers at the base of the hillside. His eyebrow twitched again, and he puffed his chest as if he was going to say something, then thought better of it and just sighed again.

"I'm Timothy," the young man stood and held out his hand for Sally to shake. "Nice to meet you."

Sally didn't know whether it was the act of introducing herself to another human being or not, but she suddenly became very conscious of herself. Almost immediately, her mental blockade went up, her eyes fell, and her voice dropped to about a whisper. She gingerly took Timothy's hand and shook it once.

"Hi… nice to meet you," she replied.

"Aw, that's not right!" NiGHTS popped up from nowhere on Sally's right side, grabbing her hand with one hand and placing the other on her back. "Timmy here taught me the right way! You stand up straight like this!" NiGHTS slapped its open hand against Sally's back causing her to straighten up instantly.

"NiGHTS," Timothy tried to get its attention.

"You look him in the eye like this!" NiGHTS used its slapping hand to grab Sally's jaw and position her head to look forward instead of down.

"NiGHTS!" Timothy called out.

"Then you stick out your right hand and grip as hard as you can, like this…" NiGHTS clasped Timothy and Sally's hands together again, this time forcing them tightly together with its own gloved hands, and shaking them up and down. "…and you tell him your name!"

_"NiGHTS!"_ Timothy practically yelled. "It's all right, she shook my hand and said 'hi' already! "

"But you said you hated it when people didn't do it right!" NiGHTS argued. "You called it a 'wet fish handshake' when I did it!"

"Yeah, but-"

"NiGHTS is right," Sally jumped in, much to her own surprise. "I- I want to do it right…" She took a moment, straightened up, and held out her hand, staring Timothy straight in the eye. Timothy smiled briefly, then took her hand. She gripped his hand firmly, shaking twice. "My name is Sally… it's nice to meet you too, Timothy."

"Call me Tim," he replied, still smiling. "And you've already met NiGHTS, of course."

"Of course," Sally agreed, smiling with him. Off to the side, NiGHTS folded its arms and nodded, as if affirming that the introduction had gone well, and was approved.

"And I'm Mr. Owl," the owl off to the side piped up. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sally. I'm sure there's a lot you're wondering about."

"Yeah, like flying!" NiGHTS' face lit up like a lighthouse beacon. "You like flying, right Sally?"

"I'm, uh… scared of heights," Sally admitted. She was beginning to see a pattern to NiGHTS' supposed randomness, and she knew flying would come back up. When it was necessary to get away from Nightmare, Sally didn't mind, but now… she wasn't exactly comfortable with the thought.

"You're just saying that cause you haven't flown enough yet!" NiGHTS reassured her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Sally suddenly got a bad feeling at the bottom of her stomach. "Don't worry, we'll fix that!"

_"NiGHTS!"_ Tim and Mr. Owl both chided.

"She'll be fine!" NiGHTS ignored. "Watch!"

NiGHTS wrapped his left arm around Sally's, lifting her in the air and spinning them both around in a circle, faster and faster. The red jewel on NiGHTS' chest began to glow brightly as the jester began to blur and go out of focus. Sally caught glimpses of Tim and Mr. Owl's faces, visibly concerned, but unable to do anything to help.

"Aaaaaand… _dualize_!"


End file.
